My patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,961 discloses an inflatable sail which provides many advantages. Generally, an inflatable sail includes an inflatable enclosure having opposed flexible walls. The enclosure has a sail shape when the enclosure is inflated with an inflation medium. The walls are movable toward each other when the enclosure is deflated. An inflatable sail is believed to provide more power than conventional fabric sails.
An air pump is used to inflate and deflate the inflatable sail. During deflation, the walls of the sail tend to come together and seal off the opening through which the inflation medium is being evacuated thereby trapping air in the sail. Kinks or folds in the sail can also inhibit evacuation of inflation medium from the sail.
To increase the area of a noninflatable sail, it is known to provide the sail with a roach. To stabilize the roach, it is desirable to utilize battens which extend from the leech of the sail across the roach. It would also be desirable to increase the area of an inflatable sail.